Friday, 12 May 2017

5 judges of 5 faiths on Supreme Court's triple talaq bench

5 judges of 5 faiths(धर्मों) on Supreme Court's triple talaq bench

NEW DELHI: A unique combination of five Supreme Court judges belonging to different faiths will start hearing final arguments on the constitutional validity of triple talaq+ from Thursday, the first day of the SC's summer vacation. For a sensitive issue like this, the lead petition is aptly titled "Quest for Equality vs Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind". And hearing the case will be five judges from five different communities — CJI J S Khehar (Sikh) and Justices Kurian Joseph (Christian), R F Nariman (Parsi), U U Lalit (Hindu) and Abdul Nazeer (Muslim).

However, it needs to be mentioned here that a judge decides a case only on the consideration(विचार) of merit and nothing else as s/he takes oath that "I will bear true faith and solemnly affirm faith and allegiance (निष्ठा) to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity(संप्रभुता और अखंडता) of India, that I will duly and faithfully and to the best of my ability, knowledge and judgment perform the duties of my office without fear or favour, affection or ill will and that I will uphold the Constitution and the laws."

The case relates to a batch of petitions filed in the top court - including by the Centre - regarding whether divorce by saying 'talaq' three times is legal+ or whether it impinges on equal rights or in this case, women's rights, and whether freedom to practice religion - via the Muslim Personal Law for Islam - takes precedence over basic freedoms, among other things.